SPRINGHILL – The Cumberland County Blues have a good chance to bring their five-game losing skid to a halt Sunday when they face off against Pictou County Scotians, a team still looking for it’s first win of the 2011-2012 Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League season.
“I’m optimistic,” Blues coach Vaughn Martin said.
The Blues acquired three forwards and two defencemen last week and this is the first game where they will all lace up for the team.
“Assistant coach Jimbo Legere ran the practice and he said things looked good and looked like they’re ready to go,” Martin said. “So, except for a couple injuries, we’ll be going down to Pictou with a full regiment.”
The last win the Blues had was on Nov. 11, a game where the Scotians almost rallied for their first win of the season but ended up losing 4-2.
“We have three full solid lines with a couple spares, and five to six rearguards, depending on the injury situation,” Martin said. “If everybody plays to their strengths instead of their weaknesses we should be in for a win.”
Last week the Blues traded veteran forward Jesse Colborne to the St. Margarets Bay Ducks for two defencemen - JJ (Jean-Jacques) Poulin and Connor Marsh.
“Jesse is a capable kid, and he’s highly touted, and he was having opportunities but was finding it hard to score,” Martin said. “In his first game with St. Margarets he had a goal and an assist, so maybe they can get (scoring) out of him.”
Martin said that sometimes change is good.
“It’s something our team needed player-wise and it looks like something he needed to generate his scoring,” Martin said. “A two-for-one trade is nice but in a perfect situation I would have liked to have seen Jesse stay here and start scoring and start playing to the top level of his ability but with hockey being a business I believe the executive did something to bolster our line up and also send Jesse to St. Margarets, who are at the top of their division and are playoff bound.”
Martin said there are still pieces to be added to the Blues puzzle.
“People are still gelling as a team and I think people who stick with us through our trials and tribulations will be pleasantly pleased with the result they see when it comes time for playoffs,” he said.
Nathan Kelly will get the start in goal.
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Trenton Arena.
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